t’s not like Tyrone coach John Franco didn’t have more important things to think about this week.
His team is preparing to play a Lewistown squad that is better than any the Eagles have faced in the last 10 years. It’s a group that beat Tyrone when the same players were in junior high, and it’s a team that in its first two games has shown the ability to completely shut down the area of the game that is Tyrone’s bread and butter – the inside run.
But instead of having the luxury of completely focusing on the Panthers (2-0), Franco and his players have been forced to deal with the distraction caused by a comment made by Huntingdon coach Jim Zauzig last week after the Eagles defeated the ‘Cats 27-0 at Gray Veterans Memorial Field.
Speaking to a reporter from the Altoona Mirror, Zauzig said that “everyone of my kids on my roster is homegrown,” a not-so-subtle reference to four of Tyrone’s players who transferred into the school district over the last two seasons.
The remark was published in last Saturday’s morning edition of the Mirror, and Franco and the Eagles were left to spend the next four days defending their roster to community members and outsiders alike.
According to Franco, the accusation and surrounding attention has unfairly taken a toll on his football team.
“It’s been a distraction. I won’t lie,” said Franco. “Those remarks were untrue and uncalled for, and the only reason they were made was because (Zauzig’s) team lost the game. What really bothered me is that I spoke to him before and after the game and he never said anything to me about it.
“The decision for any family to pick up and move to another community is a painstaking decision, and each family who made that choice did it for many reasons, the least of which was football. But now, because of those comments, the perception hurts everybody, and the damage has been done.”
Franco would know about the challenges of moving a family. After spending his entire life in Altoona, he and his wife Sue made the decision to move to Tyrone last summer. Along with them came the couple’s children, including sophomore Johnny, who last season starred on Bishop Guifoyle’s junior high football team, and who now plays for the Golden Eagles.
“There’s nothing wrong with a family deciding to move to another community to better their lives,” he said. “But the decision to do so isn’t easy, and I can guarantee you that for us it was not an easy decision.”
Of the three other players on the Tyrone roster who transferred into the District, all have family roots in the borough. One even attended elementary school in Tyrone, and all of the players attended TAHS last year.
Zauzig sent a letter of apology to the Tyrone Area School District, insisting that his statements were not an indictment of Franco’s program, but for the Golden Eagle coach it’s too little too late.
“I don’t really care about the letter of apology because these kids have been hurt by this,” Franco said.
So with what could be the 2-0 Eagles’ biggest game of the first half of the schedule on tap for tomorrow night at Gray Veterans Field, the 11-year coach has had to deal with a lot more than football. But even if he were just dissecting the Xs and Os, the job would be a tough one because this year’s Panthers have looked pretty good through the first two weeks of the season.
Lewistown opened the campaign with a 28-9 victory over Mifflintown’s Juniata High School, and followed that up last week with an 8-6 win over Bald Eagle Area that ended like a scene from NFL Film’s Football Follies.
With the score tied 6-6 with 12 seconds to play, Panther quarterback Chad Snook heaved a Hail Mary into the end zone, but it was picked off by BEA’s Justin Simpson. Rather than taking a knee and heading to overtime, Simpson attempted to advance the ball, reversed his field back across the goal line, as was smothered there by three Lewistown players. The safety gave Lewistown an 8-6 win, and it allowed coach Allen Muir’s players to gain a measure of confidence.
“It was exciting,” said Muir. “The players were very happy, and it was a welcome change to get a break like that. But it wasn’t all luck. Our defense played extremely well, and we had to complete a big pass to get the ball out to the 30 at the end of the game. I think it was a result of us playing hard for all four quarters.”
Defense has been the key for the Panthers, who have forced four turnovers and are yet to allow a 100-yard rusher. The unit is led by a trio of players who have started on the defensive side of the ball for three seasons in linebacker Chris Tressler, and defensive linemen Brodie Dalton and Devan Zimmerman, and its forte is stopping the run between the tackles.
“We’re not going to be able to just go with two tight ends and run it down their throat as we may have tried in the past,” Franco said. “If there’s one thing about them that stands out, it’s that they’re big enough and strong enough to stop the run. Now, make no mistake, we will still run the football, but we may have to use more of our play-action passing, our deep passing and our ball control passing.”
Above all, Franco would like to see his team take care of the football for the first time in three games. Over the first two, the Eagles uncharacteristically put the ball on the turf six times, losing three, contributing to an alarming total of four turnovers.
“I’m disgusted by that,” said Franco. “It’s something that shouldn’t happen, and we’ve been on the kids about holding onto the football because it’s something we can’t afford to do against this team.”
LEADERS
Senior Brinton Mingle leads Tyrone in rushing heading into Week 3, despite limited playing action in the fourth quarter of the Eagles’ first two lopsided victories. He’s rushed for 199 yards on 40 carries and scored four touchdowns, and last week he notched his first 100-yard game of the season (20-124). Quarterback Leonard Wilson is the team’s second-leading rusher with 91 yards on 17 carries.
As a passer, Wilson is 14-for-29 for 261 yards and two touchdowns. He’s been intercepted once.
Trey Brockett leads Tyrone’s receivers with 5 receptions for 91 yards, while Justin Schopp is second with 4 grabs for 83.
Lewistown’s running game features the tandem of Nick Knable and Tressler, who have combined for over 300 yards on the ground. Knable has 27 carries for 186 yards, including a 108-yard performance last week, while Tressler has gone for 156 yards on 29 carries.
Quarterback Chad Snook has completed 15 of 35 passes for 266 yards, one touchdown and 2 interceptions. Tressler is his top target with five receptions for 77 yards. Mike Baker has three catches for 74.
CONFIDENCE
Franco believes Lewistown will enter the game with confidence because of the group’s success against Tyrone on the junior high level, and that’s important for a team like Lewistown, which has fallen to the Eagles each year since 1994.
Victories against Tyrone on the junior high level can help to eliminate some of the mystique associated with playing the Eagles, but Muir sees it as something even deeper. To him, the Panthers’ demeanors will have them believing they can win when they come to Gray Veterans Memorial Field.
“Our players are aggressive and scrappy, and they won’t back down from anyone,” he said. “I think the people who come are going to see an exciting, well played, hard-hitting game.”
FACTS AND FIGURES
The last time Tyrone and Lewistown were both undefeated in Week 3 was 1996. Tyrone defeated the Panthers that season 42-7 … Tyrone’s last loss to Lewistown was in 1993, a 26-7 loss at Mitchell Field. Since then, the Eagles are 11-0 against the Panthers, outscoring them 364-74 … Tyrone has out-rushed Lewistown in each of the last 11 games, and only once in that time did the Panthers come within 100 yards of Tyrone. That was in 1999 when the Eagles outgained them on the ground 190-90.
